


Accidentally Astray

by Pureblood_Muggle, SAYS



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Friendship, Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2019-07-05 22:11:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15872724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pureblood_Muggle/pseuds/Pureblood_Muggle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SAYS/pseuds/SAYS
Summary: For Anne - It was a good plan. Sirius was sure of it. Actually, it was a great plan. The perfect plan. Until it wasn’t.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Anne-Virginie, ma belle! I’m honoured to write this little story for you, and hope you enjoy this little adventure in the Marauder Era <3

“We can’t let them get away with that!”

“Of course not, Padfoot, but we can’t just charge in and beat them up – much as it tempts me to do just that!”

“Prongs is right.”

“Moony, you stick in the mud. Of course, you’d take his side! Wormtail! You agree, don’t you?”

“Yes, but I think Prongs and Moony are right. And NEWTS are coming up. That’s really hard.” His voice became quieter as he added, “I need all the study time I can get.”

“We all do, Wormtail. Come on, Padfoot, don’t we have to at the very least come up with something epic that will be legendary for future generations to admire? Beating your little brother and his cronies to bloody pulp isn’t going to be it. We have more class than that!”

Sirius crossed his arms with a huff. His eyes fixed on something behind James.

“She. She is the reason you’re not beating them up with me. We can do both, you know. Give them a good beating and plan the perfect revenge. Merlin’s bollocks, Prongs, they left three first years in the Hospital Wing. Three. First. Year. Gryffindors.” He held up fingers to emphasize his point. 

James ignored his wild gesturing. “Lily has nothing to do with it,” he replied through gritted teeth. “Has it not occurred to you yet that maybe, just maybe, it was time to think things through? It’s getting bad out there. Ending up in the Hospital Wing will be the least of our troubles once we graduate. We’ve precious few months left here at Hogwarts and I for one don’t want to use my time fighting little bastards in the corridors. Much as they deserve a good trouncing. They got detentions and are banned from the Quidditch final. Slytherin is missing their Seeker and, like it or not, Reg is damn good at it. I’m glad he won’t be playing!”

And so it went for five days. A ritual of sorts, if you will: James Potter, fabled Marauder and troublemaker extraordinaire, turned Head Boy and responsible voice of reason, rebuffed every possible argument his best friend, Sirius Black, came up with. Much to the delight of fellow Marauders Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, not to mention his fellow Head Girl, Lily Evans who, naturally, did get wind of Sirius’ wish to revenge the attack.

Some might say that Sirius was indeed spot on with his assessment that Lily was James’ reason for his new-found rule-abiding ways.  They would be correct. At least, partially. For the most part, he had himself come to the painful conclusion that Lily had been right about him all along: He had behaved like a right bloody twit. He had been no better than those Slytherin bullies. Just because the Slytherins were real bastards he shouldn’t have turned into one himself. Yet he had. Did he regret how he acted? No. That would be a step too far. He didn’t for one second regret that he’d made Snape’s life hell for all the mean name calling and other hurtful things he did to Lily.

Lily, which James still suspected, with whom Snape, even years after their friendship faltered, was still deeply in love with. A notion he, James, could fully understand because, much as he often wished it weren’t so, he himself had head over heels fallen for the redhead.

** 

  
“Lads, I did it! Bow down to the Master Marauder!” Sirius beamed and let himself fall onto the couch in front of the large stone fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room and put his feet onto the small coffee table. His fellow Marauders barely lifted an eyebrow, though James shoved Sirius’ boots forcefully out of his way. 

“Aren’t you going to ask what I did?”

“No.” Three different voices, one answer.

“Oh come on, you can study later. This is important!”

Remus sighed. James closed his eyes. Peter swallowed. 

“Alright, I’ll  _ bite _ ,” Remus said quietly. “What is it you did that’s oh so much more important than our looming NEWTs?”

“I found it. The perfect prank. And,” he added in a staged whisper, “I found a way to pull it off.”

“Do we need to beg for details?”

“Oh Prongs, don’t be so huffy. It doesn’t suit you at all. Fine, come with me to the dormitory and I shall reveal all. Can’t risk being overheard here.” He stood and waited for his friends to scramble to their feet. The three left their school books and parchment out in hopes nobody else would then claim the prized spot in the room. 

“Alright, Padfoot, we’re all here, tell us about it so I can get back to revising Charms.”

“Prongs deer, patience!” James rolled his eyes. Siriusly, his jokes were getting old. A small thrill of excitement rushed through James nonetheless when Sirius used  _ Colloportus _ before adding a  _ Muffliato _ for good measure even though they were well alone in the 7 th Year Dormitory. It had been way too long since they had planned something good.

“Right. Do you remember the other night, when our esteemed Wormtail made the wish that we could just shoot the Slytherins to Hell, or at the very least that they would get lost?” The other three nodded obediently when it became clear he needed an answer.

“Well,” he continued smugly, “Maybe this won’t send them to Hell, but it will get them lost!” With a flourish, he pulled a long golden chain out of his trouser pocket at the end of which there dangled a small hourglass surrounded by golden rings. 

James stared, Remus gasped, and Peter whistled appreciatively. 

“No.” Remus was first to find his voice. “Absolutely not. Bad things happen to wizards who meddle with time. Where did you even get this?”

“Never mind where I got it. Now let’s find out how to use it!”

“Padfoot, you’re mad! Remus is right. It’s all kinds of illegal to use one.”

“Oh come on, James.”

“Are you insane? Sirius, we’re already  _ unregistered _ Animagi. If we add using a Timeturner without permission to that we’ll never see the outside of Azkaban, ever!” 

“I like it.”

“Of course you do, Pete. You get me.”

“Sirius, we all get you. It would be perfect. If it weren’t so bloody insane to even think it. Where did you get the thing?”

“James deer, I love you, but if I told you I’d have to kill you and where would we be then. The less you know…”

James ran his hand through his hair and sighed. Ruddy nervous habit of his that he swore he’d leave behind when he realised it made him look conceited in front of Lily. But right now, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself to save his life. Of all the half-cocked hare-brained schemes Sirius had thought of in the past, and there were many, this had to be up there topping them all.

“Sirius, think. Remember  _ that night _ . We – YOU – swore our pranks would forever remain harmless fun, and that you’d think things through!” James was pacing now, hand in his hair, and very aware that his earlier excitement was fast turning into genuine fear of what Sirius would be capable of. His mentioning of  _ that night _ which nearly cost Snape his life and exposed Remus’ condition was proof enough of how he felt about it all.

“How could I forget? You won’t let me. And I will not apologise again. Remus knows I never meant anyone, least of all him,” he pointed at his friend, “come to harm. This is different. Very different. Nobody will come to harm with this. All we need to do is send them back in time a bit and confuse the shit out of them. Imagine this, right. In June. End of Term Feast. Reg and a couple of his cronies being sent right back to just before NEWTS, having to redo it all, wondering what the Hell happened?”

“Great idea,” said Remus. “Just how do you think it will work? There’s so much wrong with this. They’d be seeing themselves for starters!”

“Okay, so send them to whenever they cannot encounter themselves.”

“You’re talking about sending them far into the past? Already to before the NEWTS is too far. Experiments have shown that anything further than five hours – HOURS – cannot be done without harming the person traveling through time. Haven’t you paid attention in History of Magic?”

That earned Remus a  _ look _ from all three of his friends. Nobody, ever, paid attention to the ghostly Professor Binns.

“Fine, so we experiment and see how we can fix that to send them further. Just to freak them out. And we retrieve them after a short while. If we must.”

“You’re insane.”

“Thanks, Prongs, I knew you’d see it my way!”

“You misunderstand. I’m not going to go with this hare-brained idea of yours.”

“What? Of course you are! I need your brain to work out the details! Come on, imagine if it worked. The glory! The legend of the Marauders would be incomparable to anything coming to Hogwarts ever again!”

“No.”

“Fine. Peter, Remus and I can do it without you. It wouldn’t be the same, but I’m sure we’ll manage.”

“You cannot be serious!”

“Oh but I am. Sirius.” 

“James, I hate to say this, but-“

“Then don’t say it. Don’t support him in this! It’s insanity!”

“He’ll do it regardless, James. At least if we do it with him, we might be able to control the damage. And maybe he’ll see for himself that it’s a lost cause.”

“You’re clutching at straws, Remus. Straws.”

Remus shrugged. James knew his friend was right and Peter was going to support Sirius no matter what, he knew that too. Their friend was loyal to a fault and admirable as that was, he was also easily coerced into their schemes. 

James hung his head and ran his hand through it yet again before looking up at his three best friends one by one. “We’re so going to regret this.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So, how are we going to do this? How does this thing work?” James prodded the Timeturner which looked like an oversized, but innocent, eccentric piece of jewellery and lay on a small table between the boys.

“As far as I know, anything attached to the Timeturner will go back in time when the rings are turned.” Remus straightened out the fine gold chain.

“How far back though? How far do we turn it? How are we going to attach it? And for that matter, what will  _ it _ be?” Peter didn’t dare touch the thing, though he did have valid questions.

“There’s only one way to find out. I would say we attach a note to ourselves to the chain, then hover it in the air and one of us uses magic to twist the rings by a fraction. Then we’ll see if it works.” Sirius wandered over to a shelf on the side of the room and retrieved parchment, ink, and a quill.

“What kind of note? And how will we know that we’ll get it?”

“Peter, you ask too many questions.” He sat down and ripped a piece of parchment off.

_ To the Estimable Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, & Prongs, _ _   
_ _ The day today is Saturday 11 _ _ th _ _ March 1978 and it is 9.35pm. _

_ Please add your date and time to this note as soon as you receive it. It is imperative that you do this. _

_ Fondest regards, _ _   
_ _ The Future Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, & Prongs. _

“Sirius.”

“Remus.”

“It’s 8.55pm.”

“I know. I just want to be sure we’ve been here long enough to try this. Hopefully it will turn up with us here in the dormitory tonight. Then when we retrieve it, we hopefully have our answer as to how far back it went.”

“You’re insane.”

“Remus?”

“Yes, Pete?”

“Shouldn’t we have the note by now if we were to send it back?”

“No, we’ve not done it yet in the first place, have we,” Sirius cut in.

“Yes but we will be doing it and sending it back in time to ourselves so we should have the note already.”

“I don’t think that’s how it works.” James scratched his head. “I have a very bad feeling about this.”

“Come on, let’s play a round of Muggle poker while we wait.”

***

“Right. It’s time.”

“We know, Sirius, you’ve reminded us every few seconds how much longer it was to wait,” Remus sighed.

“Well, everyone to their stations. James, attach the note. Remus, hover it, and Pete, you gently rotate the outer ring by half an inch.”

“Sirius, I can’t help but notice how you’re not involved in the execution of this.” James glared at him.

“Manager.” Sirius shrugged as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Now hurry up or the note will be wrong. We’ve one minute left to send it.”

“Right, it’s attached.”

“ _ Wingardium Leviosa.” _

_ “ _ Okay, Wormtail, when I say  _ go _ you will rotate it by half an inch.”

“In which direction?”

“In which –“

“He has a point, you know,” James agreed while Remus concentrated on keeping the Timeturner afloat. “It might go forward in time if it’s the wrong way around.”

“Choose a direction then and note which one it was. I suppose we’ll find out once we get it back?”

“Okay.” Peter’s voice came out squeakier than when he transformed into a rat. He extended a shaking finger and gently prodded the Timeturner by a fraction. He jumped when it began spinning in earnest and nearly made Remus drop it. 

Then it was gone.

“Now what?”

“Now, James, my deer, we wait.”

*** 

“Shouldn’t we have the note by now if we were to send it back?”

“No, we’ve not done it yet in the first place, have we,” Sirius cut in. 

An unexpected clatter in front of them made the four boys jump. There, on the floor in front of them, lay a Timeturner with their note attached. The one on the small table had disappeared. 

“We did it.” Sirius stared at the piece open-mouthed and amazed. “We actually did it!”

“But-,” James, never one to be speechless, didn’t know how to finish that sentence.

In the end, Sirius was the one to remove the note and add ‘ _ 7 _ _ th _ _ Year boys dormitory, 11 _ _ th _ _ March 1978, 9.01pm. IT WORKED!’ _ on the back of it. He reattached it and scratched his head.

“Are we sending it back? Or are our future us calling it back?”

“I have no idea. We should’ve given ourselves instructions,” Peter suggested. “Maybe next time?”

“Leave it alone and see? If it isn’t gone by the time we will have sent it in the future, we’ll give it a nudge.”

All four boys sat and stared at the Timeturner, unwilling to even blink.

*** 

“Well, now what, Padfoot? It’s gone.”

“I know! Isn’t it cool, Prongs, it worked!”

“Well of course it worked you smarmy git! It’s a Timeturner, it’s what it does. But how do we get it back?”

“I’m sure we’re sending it back from there, no?”

“Sirius, was that your plan?”

“Wouldn’t we have already done that? I don’t remember doing it, so therefore we couldn’t have?” 

“Peter, haven’t I already told you that it wouldn’t work like that?”

“You know,” Remus rubbed a hand over his face. “I know this sounds a bit silly, but I’m having this awful déjà vu right now…” All three turned to watch him as he raised his wand and, closed his eyes and whispered, “Accio Timeturner.”

The object in question landed in Remus’s hand with remarkable grace.

 

**

“We’re going to have to just try it.”

James shrugged. He didn’t have a better idea either. In the last two days since they had successfully sent the Timeturner back to themselves and retrieved it, they’d tried it several more times. Each time with a little extra bit of a twist to see how far they could stretch it. At the most recent attempt it took a full five minutes of concentrated effort holding the  _ Accio  _ charm in place for it to return. It had been 2 hours in the past.

Remus had come up with an idea of using two different retrieval spells at the same time.  _ Accio _ was evidently working so far, but the argument had sprung up that all four of them knew exactly where the Timeturner would be and could therefore clearly visualise it, join their efforts, and retrieve it. However, if it got into someone else’s hands and moved, it might not work. The risk was too great. 

The other charm they had been taught by Flitwick, however, appeared to add yet another problem instead of giving answers:  _ Carpe Retractum _ would indeed attach a thin magical rope to an object for it to be pulled towards the charm caster – however, this would require the object to be within visual distance. And the Timeturner very much was out of sight and, for that matter, indeed also out of time.

It was therefore decided to attach the magical rope to the chain before sending the Timeturner off, and then adding the  _ Accio _ charm while pulling the first charm backwards physically. If, that was, the magical rope would withstand time travel. 

“ _ Padfoot _ , you do the first one.” Sirius nodded at Remus’ order.

“ _ Carpe Retractum!”  _ A thin rope of magical light shot out of Sirius’s rune ornamented wand and attached itself to the delicate gold chain as if it were caressing the fine metal. 

“Now you, Wormtail. Easy does it, spin it back half an inch so we have it close by time-wise.” Peter obeyed instantly. As the Timeturner disappeared from in front of them, a faint  _ pop _ marked the snap of Sirius’ magical rope.

“Well, that sucks,” Sirius growled. Remus immediately used the  _ Accio _ spell to retrieve the Timeturner and caught it deftly in his left hand.

“No closer to solving that problem. Maybe we ought to look at the other problem we’re facing?” 

“What other problem, Remus?” Peter sat up straight, eyes wide. “I didn’t know there was another problem.”

“Well, I’ve been doing some reading in the Restricted Section and found out that not only is going back in time for more than a couple of hours next to unheard of, the few people who did, returned… altered.”

“Altered.” James ran his hand through his hair yet again. Conscious of this habit, he forced his hands to his hips. “Altered in what way?”

“Well, there was one incident where the witch in question went back nearly 500 years and when she returned, immediately aged those 500 years and, well…,” he trailed off and shrugged. 

“Oh.” 

 

*** 

The four Marauders sat in stunned silence at the edge of the Quidditch Pitch. Between them lay the Timeturner, and a brown, shrivelled up fern leaf.

“How far back did it go again?” James asked.

“By my calculations it went 2 months,” Remus replied. “And we retrieved it after five minutes.”

“So, in those five minutes it aged 2 months on its way back to us?”

“Yes, James, by all accounts that is correct.”

“Damn.”

“But we sent notes back that far and it worked fine. Why is this so different, Remus?”

“Pete, notes aren’t living things. Parchment doesn’t decay that fast.” He looked up at Sirius. “Padfoot, I think we best pack this in. It was a good idea but we cannot do this. Look what happened to the leaf, we’d kill them!”

Sirius disagreed vehemently. “No we wouldn’t! Look at it. Of course two weeks would kill a leaf that hasn’t had water supply. That time wouldn’t kill a human though. Who cares if they age 2 weeks or 2 months even, a human lives far longer than that! Especially wizards. We live longer than average Muggles. And anyway, we don’t know for sure if that’s the case. Anything could’ve gone wrong with this. Maybe it landed in something that altered it.”

“What do you suggest then?” James countered. “Send them back to age them beyond their miserable 16 or 17 years by a couple weeks? How long do you want to send them back for anyway? We still haven’t figured that out. It can’t be long or they’ll run across each other and goodness knows what else they’d break in time. I still have a very bad feeling about this.”

“You keep saying that but you still haven’t come up with a better plan!”

“Sirius, ANY plan is better than this one!”

“Okay, okay. Don’t get your wand in a twist!” Sirius got up and paced back and forth. He watched a small frog hop past them and pursed his lips in thought. “How about we give it one more try. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll call it.”

James raised an eyebrow. “On your Marauder’s honour?”

“Aye, even on my Marauder’s honour.” Sirius theatrically put his hand over his heart and nodded gravely.

“You heard him boys! Let’s get this over with.”

Sirius took his wand out and easily and wordlessly summoned the frog in question. “Hello little guy, fancy a short holiday?” He grinned at his friends who all stared back in horror.


	3. Chapter 3

The Marauders sat in the low, late afternoon sunshine under their favourite large oak tree by the lake. Their ties were undone, shirts untucked, and no school work was to be seen anywhere. Their Easter break had finally begun.

“Hey Prongs, pass it here.” 

James lobbed the golden Snitch he was juggling towards Sirius who caught it easily. Then he lay down on the ground and stretched out, careful not to disturb the game of wizard chess Remus and Peter were playing next to him. 

“You know, I really think it’s good that we are scrapping the Timeturner prank. It really is too dangerous.” James shuddered at the memory of the frog’s mangled remains. Remus nodded in agreement before ordering his Queen to take one of Peter’s pawns.

“Yeah, I suppose so.” Sirius flicked a leaf he found on the ground and sullenly stared at the golden Snitch in his hand. “We need to find something else though.”

“Yes, and give the Timeturner back,” Remus replied. “I still can’t believe you snatched it out of McGonagall’s office!”

“Minnie shouldn’t have left it lying around.”

“I doubt she left it out on her desk!”

“Well it was in her desk, but she shouldn’t have left it unsupervised. Or me, for that matter, after all I was in detention.” Sirius grinned at them all. “We should have one more adventure before returning it though.”

“No.”

“Remus, come on, where’s your sense of adventure? Let’s go back an hour and play ourselves in Quidditch!” Sirius’ excitement was palpable now. “Prongs you’d love that, too, right? Come on, just once we should use it for us. Before we give it back,” he added pointedly.

“Without me.”

“Or me,” Peter agreed. 

“Fine. Prongs?”

“Why not. Just a few minutes though, to try it out.” James sat up and scooted over to sit next to Sirius. “We’re secluded enough here with those bushes, let’s do it!”

Sirius reached into his trouser pocket and pulled the Timeturner out by its chain. With great theatrical flair he presented it to his best friend and together they stood and looped it around their necks careful not to jostle the hour glass while they did it. They grinned at each other and James slowly reached out to twist it.

“Guys.” Peter called out to them urgently but got no reaction. “Guys!”

“What, Pete?” 

He pointed behind them where Lily had just appeared from around the thick rhododendron bush. 

“What illegal thing are you doing this time?” Lily grinned as she stepped right up to James and Sirius and looped her arms around the boys’ shoulders. Her eyes widened when they fell onto the object in their midst connecting the two. Her mouth fell open. James quickly dropped the Timeturner. His movement caused Lily to stumble off balance and both of the boys instinctively reached out to steady her which caused the hourglass still suspended between them to spin out of control. Lily was the first to react and reach out to stop it but not without difficulty. She felt dizzy as if she was  _ Apparating  _ somewhere, through the Floo Network while drunk.

“What do you guys think you’re doing?” she hissed when her world stopped spinning. “This is a Timeturner! How did you even get one? Do you have any idea what could happen if you don’t use it right?” She looked from James to Sirius and back but got no reaction besides open-mouthed stares. “Take it off. Now!”

James shook his head as if to shake off a pesky fly and his right hand flew into his hair messing it up. “Where are Moony and Wormtail?”

All three looked around. Sirius untangled the golden chain from around their necks and stuffed it back into his pocket. 

“They were right here!”

“Yes, so was a blanket, wasn’t there?” Lily replied with a frown. She looked up. “It was sunny, too. Why is it overcast?”

“You stopped it.” Sirius pointed at Lily. “You stopped the hourglass from spinning!”

“I did. So where are they?” She shivered as a few fat rain drops landed on her neck and slid down her back. “Come on, let’s go back in. Maybe they noticed the weather change and went ahead.” Lily nodded to herself. “I’m sure that’s what they’ve done.” Though whether she said it to convince herself or the others she couldn’t say. Somehow, her stomach clenched and she felt very, very bad about it all. 

*** 

“Remus! Where did they go?”

“I don’t know.”

“They were just here, and now they’re gone!”

“I know.”

“Call them back.  _ Accio _ them!”

Remus shook his head but took his wand out anyway and clearly uttered the now familiar incantation. He was sweating now, concentrating with all his might on his friends, on Lily. Try as he might though, his stomach clenched horribly and his hand started to shake as scenarios began to play out in his mind of the three of them returning from Merlin-knows-when and dying in front of him. 

He dropped his wand.

“I can’t do it.” He heaved a ragged breath. This was the closest he’d ever come to real panic in years. He hadn’t had a panic attack since James, Sirius, and Peter had sworn to secrecy about his condition, and not only that – they’d accepted him the way he was. He felt safe with them. Now, however, this felt so far out of his control, that he couldn’t stop the shaking. He gulped lungful after lungful of air yet felt as if he couldn’t breathe. 

Peter pulled his own wand out and pointed it at his hyperventilating friend. “ _ Petrificus Totalus!” _ He winced as Remus hit the ground with a loud  _ thud _ . “I’m so sorry, Moony. So sorry.  _ Ennervate. _ ”

Remus took a large gulping breath of air and sat up rubbing his head. “That hurt,” he wheezed.

“I know, I’m so sorry but you panicked and I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Thanks. I think. We have to do something.”

“Library?”

Remus nodded and pushed himself back up onto his feet. They quickly packed all their things away and made their way up towards the castle unable to appreciate the lovely warm sunshine on their backs.

*** 

Lily walked briskly towards the nearest castle entrance by the clock tower. The boys had no trouble keeping up with her pace. None of them spoke, unable to put into words the feeling of unfamiliarity in this familiar place. She wasn’t sure why, but somehow the grass looked wrong, as did the flowers by the castle wall. Weren’t there flutterby bushes next to the entrance? Why weren’t there any now? Or had they been removed ages ago and she just hadn’t noticed?

They were just about to enter the courtyard leading up to the large wooden entrance when they spotted a small group of people. Lily made as if to call out to them but a large hand clamped over her mouth and she was unceremoniously pulled backwards with an arm around her waist. 

She licked the hand.

“Eww, Evans! You didn’t need to do that,” Potter hissed into her ear. He did not let go but removed his hand.

“Why the hell did you attack me? Let me go!” She shoved at his iron grip, blushing when she realised her back was flush with his front. She immediately stopped wriggling.

“Smart girl,” he whispered. “Did you see what they were wearing? They looked like something out of a history book.” He watched Sirius peer around the corner. Lily closed her eyes. This was not happening. She tried to remember the students she saw. They all wore Hogwarts cloaks. She’d recognise them anywhere. They all also wore their pointy hats, which wasn’t normally done at school except for official feasts. It wasn’t forbidden either though. She tried shrugging her shoulders. 

Sirius turned to them and raised an eyebrow at James still holding Lily clasped to him. “Well, while you two were cuddling here, I had a good look at that little group there.” He took a deep breath. “Prongs, mate, I have a feeling our Lilykins here wasn’t fast enough with the Timeturner.” 

“What did you see?”

“It’s not what I saw, it’s  _ who _ .” He looked torn between laughter and madness. “I’m not sure how to put this. Besides the few students I’ve just seen both Binns and my great-great-grandfather, alive and kicking.”

Lily swallowed. She could feel her own tension reflected in James’ grip on her. 

“But, but that’s impossible,” she breathed. “They’ve lived like a hundred years ago.” And suddenly she was glad of Potter’s arm around her. “No. No, no no. No. We have to go back. Take the Timeturner out and spin it the other way.”

“We can’t.” James turned Lily around in his arms and hugged her close. She pushed herself away as much as she could. “We’d likely die.”

“We might not. We’ve only been here a short time,” Sirius ventured.

“Think of the frog.” 

“What frog?” Lily mumbled.

“The frog wasn’t a human.”

“What frog?” she asked again.

“We sent a frog back about two months and when we retrieved him… well, he wasn’t much use for anything anymore, not even for a helping of cuisses de grenouilles.”

“Oh Merlin,” Lily let her head drop against James’ chest. A sob escaped her. James looked alarmed and Sirius downright nauseated. 

“Evans, do not turn into a watering can now. We need your wits.”

She chocked on another sob. “I’m not.” Another sob. “I’m… I’m just…” Her shoulders shook. James pushed her away gently. 

“Are you  _ laughing _ ?” he asked. She tried harder to contain it but her eyes watered and an actual giggle escaped her. She wasn’t sure what she was doing herself. 

“We’ve finally done it, Prongs. We’ve sent her around the bend!” The sight of his best friend holding his long-term crush and looking alarmed at her now hysterically crying and laughing caused a bark of laughter to escape. Soon all three slid down the wall, hiccupping and letting the mirth die, unheeding of the rain now pelting down on them.

“I’ve always said you’d be the death of me, Potter.” Lily used her sleeve to wipe the mix of tears and rain off her face. She dropped her head onto James’ shoulder. “I’m scared,” she added in a small voice.

“And cold. I can feel you shivering.” James shrugged his shoulder against her head to indicate that he was talking to her, then added, “Padfoot, we need to get inside. Any idea which passage to take?”

Sirius glanced at Lily and hesitated only a moment before answering. “We could try the front door. Your cloak should cover the three of us if we’re careful.”

James nodded. “Yeah, I guess that could work.”

“How is a cloak going to help us? Plus, you’re not wearing one.”

“Watch and learn, Evans.” He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out an extremely delicate fabric that appeared to defy the laws of physics. It was way larger in volume than his pocket suggested. James spread it out over their laps making their legs disappear. Lily gasped.

“It’s a family heirloom.”

“It’s amazing.” Lily gently ran her fingers over the material noting how delicate it was. It felt much lighter than silk, as if air had been spun into threads but at the same time incredibly strong. 

A low rumbling noise from the direction of Sirius’ stomach was quickly followed by him exclaiming that he was cold and hungry and to hurry up. The three of them stood and carefully draped the invisibility cloak over themselves. Both Sirius and James had to crouch so their feet wouldn’t show. Slowly they made their way across the now deserted courtyard and through the doors. The small entrance hall to the clock tower was thankfully empty.

Lily simply followed their lead as they moved along corridors and passages she’s never been to before. Sirius and James really did seem to know Hogwarts like no other.  _ No wonder they escaped Filch so often _ . 

She was about to question why they were going down rather than up towards the Gryffindor tower when they stopped outside a door upon which hang a still life painting of a bowl of  fruit. 

“We’re going to the kitchen?”

“Yes. I’m hungry. And I can’t think when I’m hungry.” Sirius looked at Lily, daring her to disagree with him. Instead, she pushed the cloak up off her head and tickled the pear in the painting which promptly wriggled as if to escape her finger before it giggled and turned into a green door knob. Lily twisted it and the door swung open.

“Come along then. I wouldn’t want you to waste away.”

 

*** 

Remus and Peter arrived at the library and found a table by the Restricted Section. Not many students were in the library but neither boy was surprised: after all, it was the first day of their Easter break. Even though it wasn’t dark in the room, Remus lit his wand tip in order to see even better and hopefully find the books he was looking for faster. 

Peter, for his part, looked on anxiously and nibbled on some Fudge Flies he had in his pocket. Fudge Flies were his favourite, and somehow eating the sweets now made him feel a little better. 

“Pete will you stop rustling with the wrappers and help me look!”

“I… which book was it we were looking for?” He stuffed the handful of still wrapped sweets back into his pocket. 

“Anything you can find with time travel and Timeturners. Anything.”

** 

It had taken Sirius less than two minutes to charm the house elves into bringing them Treacle Tarts and hot Butterbeer. About the same time it took Lily to use some nifty charms to dry their clothes and hair. 

The kitchen was still as they remembered it from their own time: a large cavernous room replicating the Great Hall above it, with added cooking and storage areas around the perimeters. They sat down at the Gryffindor table, Sirius opposite James and Lily, and ate and drank in silence for a few moments.

Lily had taken three bites of her Treacle Tart and only sipped her Butterbeer but now she was beginning to feel queasy. She pushed her tart around on her plate a little longer then gave it up as a bad job and put her fork down on the table. She sighed deeply and rubbed her hands over her face. Sirius was still devouring his own food but James noticed the change in her. He nudged her with his knee below the table.

“You still cold?” She shook her head. “Your hands are shaking.” She was still rubbing her face and well aware that her hands shook. Lily was actually sure her whole body must have been shaking. For all that she was sorted into Gryffindor house, she felt scared not brave and now that they sat in the kitchen and things went quiet around her, it all came crashing down on her. 

She furiously blinked in an effort to keep tears at bay but failed miserably. Try as she might, they leaked steadily under her hands and in between her fingers, dripping onto the scrubbed wooden table. 

James shot a desperate look at Sirius who hadn’t yet noticed. He kicked him under the table and jerked his head towards Lily when he looked up. Sirius shrugged and made a helpless gesture back at James.  _ Helpful as ever _ , James thought. Lily breathed unsteadily and a small sob escaped her.

“Evans,” James begun, “Hey… um… Lily?”  He shot another glance to Sirius who made some mad motion with his arms. James narrowed his eyes. Sirius rolled his eyes and waved wildly with his arms and hugged himself. James shot him a  _ look  _ but decided to try it anyway. He carefully rubbed Lily’s back with his left hand.

For a moment he thought he’d done the right thing as she became really still and he thought she stopped crying but his relief was short-lived. Instead of stemming the tears, the flood gates opened proper and Lily buried her face in his shoulder while he held her. 

This was the second time in a space of an hour that Lily Evans was in his arms. He often dreamed about finally holding her, in many different scenarios, but none of his dreams ever involved tears. He would’ve laughed if the situation didn’t make him want to lose it also. 

“We’ll find a way home, Lily.” James closed his eyes and breathed in her flowery shampoo scent. She smelled of Amortentia. Sirius loudly cleared his throat and James felt his face heat up. 

“We need a plan.” Sirius pushed his plate away and leaned his elbows on the table. “We need to find a place to stay. We need to get access to the library. We need to get home.”

“Of course,” James replied looking up at the clock on one of the walls. “It’s not curfew yet so students will still be out and about.”

“So we look for somewhere to sleep first. I doubt walking into Gryffindor Tower will work so well for us. Any ideas, Prongs?”

“None. Wish we had the map with us.” 

“We have your cloak,” Lily said quietly while she extricated herself from James. “What map?”

“Evans, the cloak is great but I really don’t fancy a threesome under it to sleep.”

“Oh Black get your mind out of the gutter. I mean we can use the cloak to get around, not sleep under!”

“Nice to have you back.” Sirius winked at her. She tried to glare back and failed miserably but went to adjust her ponytail and right her appearance as best she could. Her tears had stopped and Sirius’ little comment brought her out of feeling sorry for herself. It wasn’t something she was accustomed to in any case and making plans, finding solutions, this was what she could deal with. 

James downed the rest of his Butterbeer. 

“Okay, so, any suggestions of where to sleep? Without the map we’ve no way of knowing which classrooms are in use at this time.”

“What map?” This time, she directed her question to James. 

“We could hide out in the loft of the Quidditch Shed?” Sirius replied as if Lily hadn’t spoken.

“Can you guarantee that it’ll even exist in this time?”

“Nope.” Sirius grinned. “I wonder what year exactly we’re in. Imagine the vintage brooms they must have!”

Lily had been looking from one to the other as they spoke. It was clear to her that she was missing something vital.

“How does Quidditch help us?” 

“I don’t know, Evans, but it’s certainly worth looking at a vintage broom while we’re here… might even be able to bring one home to sell for a few galleons.” Lily gaped at him.

“Really?  _ That’s _ what you think of right now?  _ Money _ ?”

“Well, dear Evans, my  _ family _ might be rich, alas, I am poor and outcast and need to make ends meet.” He crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow.

Any other time, she would’ve overflown with concern for him, felt guilty for not considering his position, and apologised for her comment. Now though, she needed to focus to keep herself from crumbling again, and that meant there was no time for sentimentality and sensitivity. 

“Sirius Black, we have no time!” She snorted and shook her head. “I mean, we really need to do something. And if a place to sleep or hide is what you want to do first…” she trailed off, biting her lip. Both looked at her expectantly. “I think,” she continued quietly, “I think I know a place.”


	4. Chapter 4

“I wish we had the cloak.”

“I know, Pete, so do I.”

Remus and Peter still sat in the Restricted Section, books of all shapes and sizes piled high between them. Even the smallest mention of time was enough for the boys to consider the book. It was dark now though and several candles and torches were lit all around them. The problem with the Restricted Section was though that those books were indeed restricted to that section. They were supposed to be studied right there and not be removed. In order to remove a book, they’d have needed express permission by a teacher. Or an invisibility cloak.

“What if we don’t find-“

“We  _ will _ find a solution, Pete,” Remus growled across the table. He was hungry, and so tired his eyes itched and, as much as he valued Peter as a friend, he wished he’d shut up and simply kept looking for a solution with him. 

Peter, for his part, snapped his mouth shut, rummaged in his bag, and wordlessly threw a Chocolate Frog across the table. It landed on the open tome Remus was searching through. Remus picked it up and opened the wrapper. The Chocolate Frog didn’t even have time to twitch before he’d bitten off his head and let out a low groan of appreciation.

“Better?” Peter asked when Remus had devoured the last crumbs.

“Yeah, thanks, Pete.” He replied and, after a short pause, added, “I’m sorry.”

“S’okay.”

“No, it wasn’t. I shouldn’t have. Here, let’s see what we have, shall we?” Remus tried to sound as upbeat as possible.

“I haven’t found anything yet,” Peter said. “But, well-,“ he paused and scrunched up his face in contemplation.

“Well… what?” Remus prompted.

“Never mind, it’s stupid anyway.”

“No, no, no. Look, none of us knows what to do and no idea is stupid. At least you’ve something! I’ve  _ nothing _ besides what I found ages ago about people not surviving a long trip. So, really. Anything is better than this!” He tried to keep his voice to a whisper but failed at the last word. Peter shrugged.

“Well, you know, remember the déjà vus you’ve had in the past? It was almost like you remembered what we had done in the future because we’d done it in the past. Or was it a memory of the past because we’d done it in the future? I dunno, but… well… I was wondering if you’d have any déjà vu yet. Maybe we just have to wait for that?”

Remus sat in stunned silence. His first reaction was to tell Pete that that wasn’t how it worked, but if he thought about it, he was right. Remus did have a right déjà vu before they’d started retrieving the Timeturner. Every time. So maybe Peter was on to something.

“I haven’t. And the Timeturner was spinning so fast, I doubt either of us will get one since we won’t have had any part to play in the destination of their past.” He frowned and put his head in his hands. 

“I told you it was stupid,” Peter said in a small voice.

“No, it wasn’t. It was an idea. That’s 100% more than I came up with.”

“We should go to Dumbledore. He’ll know what to do. Won’t he?”

Remus sighed. “I don’t know. Can you imagine his reaction? It’ll get them expelled.”

“It might get them killed already.” Peter had a point, Remus thought. And with any other problem, he himself would’ve contacted Dumbledore already. Logically, he  _ knew _ they should long have gone to see the Headmaster. He knew they were in over their heads. But they were so close to graduation.

“If we haven’t found a solution by morning, we’ll go to Dumbledore.”

Peter nodded his agreement and threw another Chocolate Frog towards Remus. He himself munched on more Fudge Flies and both went back to searching the books in front of them.

** 

“Ouch!” Lily hissed at Sirius who’d stood on her foot for the third time in as many minutes. “Would you pay attention?”

“I’m trying but this is rather cramped under here in case you hadn’t noticed!” Sirius hissed back.

“Quiet, I think someone’s coming,” James muttered before Lily could retort. 

The three of them had slowly made their way up to the seventh floor and now did their best to manoeuvre into a small alcove in order to let whoever was coming down the corridor pass them by. They each held their breath in an effort to be absolutely silent. The noise was becoming louder yet footsteps weren’t coming. 

A loud clang across from them signalled a large pewter goblet being thrown against the wall. This was followed by a song, sung in a high pitch befitting an impudent child. They knew that voice well enough though, and as one they breathed the same words, “Oh no, Peeves!” as the poltergeist neared.

“There runs the Headmistress Mole   
she rescued a student from a hole   
Old Daverdy couldn’t   
How bad for the student!   
And now Peeves is in control!”

His cackle bounced off the walls as he careened along the corridor, emphasizing his rhyme with clangs against suits of armour on his way. Neither of them dared move until long after Peeves’ sounds had faded into nothing and they were sure nobody was coming after him.

Lily took hold of James’ and Sirius’ sleeves and pulled to make them understand to move on. After only another minute of walking, she stopped.

“Can you keep an eye out for anyone coming?” she whispered. “I need to take the cloak off to get into this room.”

The boys looked at each other in confusion. 

“What room, Evans?” Sirius peered around her along the corridor and found only blank wall on one side, and a large tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy on the other. Lily, though she didn’t feel particularly cheerful, couldn’t help but grin. 

“What, are you telling me, I have found a place you two haven’t? Just watch out for anyone coming.” She looked both ways again before throwing the invisibility cloak off herself and marching up and down the corridor three times. A door appeared in front of them.

“Well, bugger me. Prongs did you know this one?” Sirius looked impressed.

James’ jaw hung open. He shook his head. 

“Well, gentlemen, follow me. It’s a mini replica of our Common Room.” Lily opened the door and let the two enter ahead of her. She heard Sirius let out a bark of laughter and James whistle in appreciation. When she stepped in herself, her own jaw hit the floor.

“This… this… this wasn’t what it looked like before,” Lily stammered.

“This is amazing! Look at this!” Sirius bounced across the room to one of three large four-poster beds that lined the back wall. “Evans, you dark horse, I didn’t realise you had this up your sleeve!”

Lily blushed furiously. “I didn’t!” She looked around. The room was bigger than it ever was before. It now resembled the Gryffindor Common Room and, in addition to that, grew a little library as well as beds and another door. She wondered where it led.

“How did you find this?” James asked in wonder, turning. Lily shrugged.

“Remember that day after the OWLs? After Sev-, when Snape called me- and you…,” she faltered through her stumbling. “Well, I was angry and upset and I ran off to the Common Room, only you arrived also and so I went back out but didn’t know where to go. I ended up here, pacing, and wishing I had my own Common Room. And then the door appeared and there it was.”

“You wished this room into existence?” James asked.

“Yeah, I guess.” 

“What did you wish for this time?”

“Our own Common Room. And that we need sleep and a place to find a way back.”

“Amazing.” James stared at her for a moment in total adoration before turning to his best friend. “Absolutely bloody amazing. How have we never found this? What’s behind that door?”

“I don’t know. It’s never been there before.”

Sirius jumped up off the bed and investigated. “Bathroom,” he called back after sticking his head through the door.

“Is there anything to eat in here?” 

Lily stared at Sirius. 

“He’s always hungry, don’t mind him,” James said before she even had a chance to make a remark. She shook her head, incredulous.

“No, there wasn’t ever food in here. I suppose we’ll have to sneak to the kitchens for any of that.”


	5. Chapter 5

Remus awoke with a start and several things rapidly and nigh on simultaneously registered with his brain:

Peter had screamed. He now sat with eyes wide open and a look of horror on his face. Madam Pince was prodding Peter with her wand and hissing dangerously at him. Filch stood behind Madam Pince with a gleeful grin on his face. 

It took him a second to understand what the librarian was saying. He could barely hear her over the sound of his own heartbeat loud in his ears.

“-middle of the night! Drooling onto school property! The books are valuable examples of their kind, some of these irreplaceable and you dare to use them as pillows and drool on them!”

“You’ll be paying now!” Filch joined in cheerfully. “We finally caught you in the act!”

“The act of what?” Remus dared ask of Filch. “Studying?”

Filch’s face contorted. “Out of bed past curfew in the Restricted Section. No doubt looking up Black Magic for your next prank. Dumbledore won’t be able to save you this time. Oh if only I was allowed to put you in irons like you deserve!” His sneer turned into a dreamy look. Remus shuddered. Peter let out a pitiful squeak. “Come on then, the Headmaster will be very interested in this!”

“Oh Argus!” Remus and Peter both did a double take. They’d never heard the beaky-nosed Madam Pince sound so enamoured before. A shudder of horror ran down their spines. Filch, for his part, looked proud.

“Irma, don’t worry, I’ll have these miscreants out of your library in no time. And if I have anything to say about this, they’ll never hurt your books again!” He stood up straighter and puffed out his skinny chest. “Up boys! Up, up!”

Remus and Peter got up from their seats and were ushered out of the library while Madam Pince remained behind. They heard her mutter to the books. “I’m here, it’s okay. You’re safe from those despicable students.” Her mutterings faded away behind them.

Neither boy knew what to say. Filch droned on about hanging them in chains by their ankles and finally having his revenge after years of their torment. Before long, they stood by the entrance to the Headmaster’s office. 

“Pepper Imp,” Filch said to the gargoyle that guarded the staircase to the office. The gargoyle smoothly moved aside to reveal a staircase. Once all three stood on the lower steps, the stairs moved upwards of their own accord.

Remus and Peter exchanged worried glances but didn’t dare say a word. As they reached the top of the staircase, the wooden door opened on Filch’s first knock. The Headmaster sat behind his desk upon which an assortment of interesting looking brass instruments were humming and spinning. 

“Headmaster! These students were out of bed and defacing school property in the library!” Filch declared without preamble. Professor Dumbledore’s eyebrows raised a fraction and he peered over his half-moon spectacles at his students.

“Is that so?” He steepled his fingers and made a contemplative humming noise in his throat. “Mr Filch, I do believe Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew are N.E.W.T. students. Mr Lupin, as an exemplary Prefect, and Mr Pettigrew, as his trusted friend, surely had their reasons to be studying so late into the night. I find it commendable to see such dedication especially on night one of school break.”

Filch bristled but before he could say anything, Dumbledore continued briskly, “You are, however, quite right, Mr Filch. The hour is indeed late and curfew exists for a reason. Especially in these times.” He sent an imploring look at first Peter, then Remus. “Mr Filch, do not let me keep you any further. I will personally deal with Mr Lupin and Mr Pettigrew.” He got up from his desk and opened his office door for the caretaker. Filch did not look happy but left with a grumble of bidding the Headmaster a good night. Dumbledore closed the door.

“Now then, gentlemen, take a seat.” He indicated a couple of chairs in front of his desk. “Once you’re comfortable I would much like to hear from you both as to why you were in the Restricted Section so late at night, on your school holidays and without your missing limbs James, and Sirius.” He sat back down behind his desk and surveyed the now seated boys. “Oh, and the truth, if you’d please.”

 

*** 

Sirius, James, and Lily sat on the sofas in front of their fire. The initial excitement about having their very own Common Room Dormitory and Sirius’ speculation as to whether they should replicate that when they got back to 1978 was quickly fading. Instead, the imminent worry as to how they would return to their own time continued.

“Did you hear Peeves earlier? Headmistress Mole,” Lily said. 

“Yeah, who was she? I’ve never heard of her,” James replied. Lily rolled her eyes.

“You really don’t pay attention do you? Did you never ever read  _ Hogwarts: A History _ ?” He shook his head. Sirius snorted. She crossed her legs and sighed. “She was the one who made a contract with Peeves in order to try to keep him in line! Evidently, it didn’t fully work. But, that was in the 19 th century so I guess we can confidently say, we’ve travelled about a hundred years back in time.”

For a moment, they sat in silence letting that titbit of information sink in. Sirius gave a low whistle. 

“Well, that does fit in with my great-great-grandfather and Binns both being here, and alive at that.” James and Lily nodded. Sirius continued, “So we need to find out how we get back. Without instantly ageing a hundred years.” He clapped his hands together so abruptly, Lily jumped a little in her seat. “I tell you something, it’ll be one hell of a story to tell when we get back!”

James jumped up suddenly. It didn’t feel right anymore to sit still. He needed action, movement, a real plan. His hand went through his hair for the nth time in the last ten minutes. It was a testament to how bonkers the whole situation was, he thought, that Lily hadn’t even once reprimanded him for it.

“We need to get into the library. Somehow. Pince can’t be the librarian yet. What’s Plan B if the library is closed out of hours here, or so guarded that we can’t get in?” He was full on pacing up and down now. Lily watched him for a minute and then also got to her feet.

“These books on the shelf. They weren’t there last time either.” She walked over to them and scanned the titles:  _ Clockwork Charms by Kuku Tock _ ,  _ Time Travel and Why It Isn’t Possible by I. M. Walker _ ,  _ Time Travel Cock Ups by The Doctor _ ,  _ Merlin’s Beard and Other Expressions Through Time by Tess Aurus.  _ The titles were all somehow connected to time and travel. She picked up a few and carried them to the table. 

“Guys, look!”

It didn’t take them long to realise that their solution might be in the very room they were in. With renewed energy, they each carried some books to the table. James was so enthusiastic, a small bound copy of  _ What To Do When You’re Out Of Time by Lily Ina Portal  _ slipped out of his overloaded arms and landed on the floor. He kicked it aside as not to fall over it. Sirius had even found a copy of the  _ Daily Prophet _ , dated Sunday, 17 th March 1878.

“That’s the same day. I mean, this morning, the date was the seventeenth of March, too. Only 1978 of course,” Lily added lamely. She put a book on top of the newspaper but Sirius shoved it back off. 

“Hang on, look at this!” He pointed at a headline at the back of the paper. They read it over his shoulder.  _ Scouting for Talent at the Hogwarts Quidditch Final ’78,  _ and underneath, a slightly smaller secondary headline:  _ Representative of the Dept. of Magical Games and Sports to attend _ . 

“Does it say when it is?” James asked.

“Yeah, next Saturday.” Sirius replied. “And there’s a little bit about both teams. Can you imagine! It’s Slytherin and Hufflepuff of all teams!”

“I wonder what brooms they’re riding.” 

“Boys! Honestly! Would you focus? Quidditch is irrelevant here. We need to get home!”

“Quidditch is never irrelevant, Evans.” Sirius crosses his arms and turned to her. “It is always relevant. We should go watch the match.” Lily threw her arms up in exasperation. 

“Hopefully we will be back home by then! Long before then, actually!” She grabbed the  _ Prophet _ and threw it onto the floor. “Grab a book, Black, and start finding our way home!”

“Merlin, you’re bossy.” He turned to James. “She’s bossy! You sure you want to date her?” James just grinned and Lily rolled her eyes. She was quite sure that James didn’t actually want to date her anymore. They’d become friends of sorts since the beginning of their final year at Hogwarts, but he had stopped asking her out and acting silly, mostly, and started being much more responsible instead. This James Potter, she actually liked hanging out with. 

James threw a book at Sirius. “Go on then, let’s find our way home.” All three settled down to read as much as they could to find any titbit of information that could help them. Both Lily and James ignored Sirius’ ramblings about his best friend being whipped.

After reading and searching for answers far into the night, Lily decided to rest on one of the beds for a couple of hours. Her eyes were itchy, she couldn’t stop yawning, and the words she tried to read swam before her. She bid the boys good night and didn’t even fully hit the pillow before she was asleep. Sirius and James followed suit not long after. 


	6. Chapter 6

Albus Dumbledore, if he said so himself, was not a man who was easily shocked. He’d seen a lot, experienced things he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy, and yet he sat in stunned silence for a full minute. For the past half an hour he had listened to both his students about Slytherins tormenting young Gryffindors, a collective prank decision, and how it had gone horribly wrong at the last second just when they wanted to abandon the idea. 

Neither Remus nor Peter could fully meet his gaze now and he was, for once, thankful for that. It would’ve been the perfect moment to have gone to see an old acquaintance for a nice hot cocoa and a chat. Instead, he now had to find words for a situation he quite honestly had no answers for.

He cleared his throat.

“That is quite the pickle we find ourselves in.” He waited until they both looked at him. “I truly wish I had the answer for you. Alas, I find myself just as… stumped… as you.”

Peter looked close to tears now. Remus swallowed hard. They’d both hoped that Dumbledore would simply give them the answer to their problem.

“I am humbled by your trust in my abilities. However, I fear I must disappoint you. I will, of course, do everything in my power to aid the return of your friends back to our time.” He paused for a long moment. “The hour is late, I suggest you both go to bed now and rest. In the morning, we will continue to search for the answer together. I will send a note to an old friend who might be able to help.”

“Thank you, Headmaster,” Remus said quietly. 

“Don’t thank me yet, Remus. I know I do not need to stress the danger of this, nor the implications of what might happen if we are unsuccessful in retrieving your friends. We had better succeed. I certainly wouldn’t like to have to tell Fleamont and Euphemia that I lost James and Sirius while they were in my care. Nor Miss Evan’s parents either.”

“Of course,” he went on, “I will have to inform them sooner rather than later.”

“Yes, Headmaster,” Peter mumbled. He felt sick at the thought that even a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore couldn’t simply fix things. And he didn’t want to face his own parents either when they were told what he was part of now. Nor did he want to see the disappointed faces of James’ parents. He liked them both, they were a strange mix of being parents, with a nice side of being the age of his own grandparents, and coddling him just as much.

 

*** 

James crouched next to Lily’s bed and watched her sleep. He itched to touch her face, her hair, her… her. A small strand of Lily’s red hair moved with each breath she took. He carefully brushed it aside, his heart beating fast. She moved just as he pulled back his hand. He held his breath.

Lily woke up slowly, stretching and yawning languidly. She blinked her eyes open and rolled onto her side only to be confronted with James’ face right in front of her. “James?” Her voice was hoarse from sleep. They looked at each other for a moment and Lily had the sudden and surreal thought that James was about to kiss her. She blushed at that and sat up quickly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and willing her heart to slow down. She was thankful for her long hair obscuring her heated cheeks.

“Morning, princess.” James got up from his crouched position next to her bed as she sat. His voice also sounded rough. He cleared his throat. “I was about to wake you.”

“What time is it?” Lily asked, moving over to the couch and table where they’d left the books open. “And where’s Sirius?” 

“He’s still in the shower after our, erm,“ he paused, “After our busy morning.”

Lily twirled around and faced James. “Your what?” She narrowed her eyes, immediately put on high alert. 

“We, um, look, Lily,” he grinned a lopsided grin at her, “Please don’t get mad.”

“Oh, dear.” It was usually a statement that really got Lily’s warning lights on, but for some reason she couldn’t help but grin back at him. “Go on then, spill.”

“We may have snuck down to play some Quidditch.” Before Lily could reply, he quickly went on, “Nobody saw us, and we only did a few laps and passed the Quaffle back and forth.”

The bathroom door opened and Sirius emerged with his hair still wet but otherwise dressed in clean clothes. She wondered how he managed that last part. 

“Sleeping Cinderella is awake I see!” he called out, grinning.

“Sleeping Beauty. Cinderella is a different princess,” Lily replied. “What else have you done besides risk us being seen? Have you at least brought coffee from the kitchen?”

“Nope, but a great idea! We should go get breakfast. I’m starving.”

Lily rolled her eyes. “You’re always starving, Sirius.” 

“James, will you look at that, she  _ gets _ me.”

James snorted and shook his head. He went to grab his invisibility cloak and together, the three of them made it to the kitchens with only a few tight squeezes as they let students pass them in the corridors. 

Once they had their tea, coffee, and full plates of eggs, bacon and toast, James and Sirius regaled Lily with their Quidditch antics earlier that morning.

“I wish we could see their faces when they see the Goal Hoops though.”

“I bet they’re going to flip,” Sirius laughed and clapped James on his back. “Those baskets were pathetic though. How on Earth did they think they were going to play?”

James shook his head. “No idea. Not to mention the Quaffle. I’ve got a whole new appreciation for the game after that.” He turned to Lily and explained, “You see, Quaffles now, I mean, in our time, they’ve got gripping charms on them. These here, they’ve got only a leather loop to hold them with. Damn difficult to catch that way. Mind you, very easy to lob across though.”

“Yeah,” Sirius continued then. “But those Goal Baskets! They’re nuts! Instead of Goal Hoops they had baskets up on sticks. And all different sizes.” He took a big bite of eggs, chewed and swallowed. “We fixed that.”

Lily nearly spat out her coffee. Her brain was slow to catch on that morning. “Sirius! Do you mean to tell me you transfigured their Goal Baskets to Goal Hoops?”

Both looked at her with identical, satisfied grins. “Of course we did. They’ll be in for a treat when they play next.”

“You can’t do that! You need to put them back to what they were. We cannot change things in this time!”

“Relax, Lily,” James said. “It’s not like they know it was us. It could’ve been anyone and it won’t be hurting Quidditch.” He shrugged as if that said it all. “After all, we all play with those Hoops and they’re regulation size.” He pushed his empty plate away from him and got up. “Shall we? There are plenty more books to get through up in that room.”

“Let’s go so,” Sirius agreed. They made their way over to the door. “We can tell you all about the school brooms on our way.” He opened the door while he went on, “Besom Bullets! I- ooph!”

Sirius had walked straight into a wizard standing on the other side of the door. 


	7. Chapter 7

“What is the meaning of this?”

The wizard sounded as irritated as he looked. He was tall, and thin, with black hair, sharp dark eyes, and a rather pointy black beard. He narrowed his eyes at Sirius. 

Lily grabbed James’ arm. He winced when her nails dug into him. In an effort to stop the pain he pried her hand off and held it in his own. He squeezed in what he hoped was reassurance. 

“Who are you?” the wizard asked in a low, yet strong and demanding voice. “You look familiar.” He took in all of Sirius’ outfit. His eyes widened and his voice took on a scathing tone. “Are those  _ Muggle _ clothes?”

Sirius, never one to be speechless, didn’t know what to say. He knew he was standing in front of his great-great-grandfather, but for the life of him he didn’t know how to respond. He was aware of his jaw hanging down so he snapped it shut and remembered to actually breathe. 

Lily knew they needed to get out of this time with as little contact as possible as to not change the timeline of history with some stupid detail that might just erase their lives as they knew them. It became clear that neither Sirius nor James were going to say anything. She would have to do the talking for them. Before she could though, the wizard turned to James.

“I don’t know you.” He looked to Lily then. “I don’t know you either.” Lastly, he turned back to Sirius. “You, however, look remarkably familiar. So let me ask you again. Who are you? And just so you don’t waste more of my precious time. Speak, boy!”

Sirius stood up a bit straighter. The tension coming from him was palpable. “Sirius,” he ground out. “My name is Sirius Black.”

In the next second, several things happened at once:   
Sirius flew backwards and hit the ground, hard.   
Lily screamed.   
James pulled his wand and put a shield charm before both him and Lily whom he unceremoniously shoved behind himself.

The wizard, wand still pointing straight at Sirius, advanced slowly, breathing hard. His face had contorted and angry red splotches covered his pale complexion. When he spoke next, it was so low and menacing that the temperature in the room appeared to have dropped by several degrees.

“How  _ dare _ you mock me this way, boy!  _ Detention _ . Count yourself lucky you weren’t  _ expelled _ ! Yet. Do not count it out. Which house are you in? I have not taught you.”

Sirius stayed quiet. James suspected that was because he was too busy trying to breathe after the way he’d landed squarely on his back. Sirius coughed. James edged around the wizard, taking care not to drop the shield charm and holding on tight to Lily’s hand. 

“If I may?” James asked quietly, and lightly, as if to enquire about the weather. “His name truly is Sirius Black. Am I correct in assuming that you are Phineas Black, his great-great-grandfather?”

The wizard, who had listened without taking his eyes off Sirius, turned sharply at that. James continued.  _ In for a Knut, in for a Galleon _ , the thought.

“You see, we’ve had a little accident with a Timeturner. This here is your great-great-grandson, Sirius Black. Son of Orion Black.” When the man said nothing, James went on again. “My name is James Potter, and this here is Lily Evans.”

Any sort of replies that could’ve come back went through James’ head. Except the one the wizard gave. “I don’t recognise that name, he said looking fully at Lily now and a beleaguered sigh cut through the tension. “ _ Mudblood,  _ I suppose.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. One given with a great deal of contempt and repulsion.

“She’s one of the brightest witches I know.” James ventured and accidentally dropped his shield charm when he used his wand arm to emphasize his point. 

“Can’t be that bright if you had an accident with a Timeturner,” Phineas Black shot back. “Bloody kids. Always think you know better and have all the answers. Serves you right to be stuck here.”

“Please, sir,” Lily said as politely as she could manage under the circumstances. “You are right, of course. We need help. We need to get back to 1978.”

“1978! My word, but that’s impossible, even with a Timeturner! Unthinkable!”

“Yet, it is when we are from,” she reiterated. 

“And you just so happened to land in the kitchens and ate our food before going home?” Phineas now had his arms crossed, one very aristocratic looking eyebrow raised, and was looking down his nose at her. Lily straightened up a bit herself.

“No, Sir, we arrived by the lake, yesterday. We’ve been trying to find a way home since and decided against starving ourselves while we do that.” Try as she might, she couldn’t fully keep the sarcasm from her voice.

“Pity,” Phineas drawled. 

 

*** 

Remus and Peter had woken early in the morning after a restless night filled with dreams of broken bodies, shrivelled up friends, and other horrors. Both were now back in the Headmaster’s office. They looked around and noticed the previous Headmasters’ portraits watching them; some curiously, some disdainfully. A faint tinkling noise came from a funny little object on one of the shelves. It sounded musical and the boys found themselves entranced with its faintly hypnotic sound. Neither noticed Albus Dumbledore entering through the door behind them and they jumped when he cleared his throat.

“Good morning, Remus, Peter.” He looked as tired as they felt. “I apologise to keep you waiting. It took a little longer for me to return from a dear friend.”

They mumbled a quiet, ‘ _ Good morning, Headmaster’ _ in reply and waited for him to say more.

“I have indeed spent the night with a very dear, old friend.” Dumbledore chuckled. “Literally,” he explained. “I went to see an alchemist friend of mine, who has just last month turned the ripe old age of 650.”

Remus choked on air, while Peter sat with his jaw hanging open, obviously impressed. Dumbledore chuckled again. 

“Yes, indeed, it is quite remarkable, is it not? He has lived through many centuries of change and discovery. If anyone had any inkling of Timeturner accidents, I had hoped it was him.” A pained expression crossed his face. “Alas, he did not. He did, however, issue me with an item of great importance that will help us keep your friends alive should they make their way back by themselves. That will give us time, and therefore a chance, to find a solution to restore everything back to what it was.”

“What is it, Headmaster?” Peter asked. 

“That, Peter, I cannot tell you. It is secretive work and an object that ought not exist in the first place. Many would say it is Dark Magic. I am, however, immensely grateful that it does.”

“But how are we going to retrieve them?” Remus asked. “We cannot just sit and wait!”

“And yet, sit and wait is all we can do, for now. Rest assured, I am still looking for solutions. And know that three heads are better than one. You have my full permission to peruse not only the Restricted Section of our library, but also my own personal library here in my office at any time. Just remember I do like the odd Cockroach Cluster.” He nodded at them and they knew the meeting was at an end, short as it was. “If you’ll excuse me.” With that, Dumbledore took a sealed letter from his desk and left the boys alone in his office. They looked at each other, then at the large bookcase on the far wall. It would be another long day, but it was the least they could do.

As they went to work searching through the large tomes, some of the portraits on the wall behind the Headmaster’s desk made derogative comments about giving students way too much freedom and not enough discipline. They ignored them. 


	8. Chapter 8

It’s been two days now, not that Lily was counting. After they had run, quite literally, into Sirius’s great-great-grandfather, Phineas Nigellus Black, their time at Hogwarts in 1878 had gone from bad to worse. Phineas appeared to revel in the fact that they were now at his mercy, and found great pleasure at berating Sirius on why he shouldn’t be consorting with those of, what he considered, lower birth. 

Sirius, to his credit, managed to ignore most of his relative’s ramblings. He and James had had a passionate whispered discussion about how to interact with such blatant racism and decided that hopefully they’d not be there much longer and could simply forget it. Sirius remembered that Phineas had disowned his own son for supporting Muggle rights and thought it a wasted effort to try convince him otherwise. It didn’t stop him from loathing Phineas for it. Blood, it seemed, was certainly not thicker than water.

Lily faced it all stoically. She didn’t react to the sarcastic remarks thrown her way any time she made a suggestion, and for her part, she stayed polite in all her dealings. 

James couldn’t help but admire Lily more by the second. Truth be told, about an hour earlier he had nearly thrown caution to the wind. Phineas had gone on a mini rant about Muggles and Muggleborns (though he used the term  _ Mudbloods) _ and Lily had simply smiled at him and charmed a comfortable chair out of thin air, along with a lap blanket and a cushion, and told him in a dignified tone that Phineas really ought to be sitting down as to not be so overcome with emotion. It was really hard for James not to laugh out loud when he saw the rage on Phineas’ face wage war with his ingrained good manners of accepting the aforementioned comforts. It was all James could do to not cross the room and snog the girl senseless. If they survived this, he swore to himself, he would follow that impulse and consequences be damned. 

Now they sat in Phineas’ office, which was located in the Octagon Tower a few levels above the Potions Classroom which lay at the very bottom. They had brought all the books they’d found in their secret room but have declined to tell him exactly where they’d found them. It irritated Phineas to the point of distraction but they were resolute. 

A clock ticked quietly on the mantelpiece reminding them that time was ticking away for them, no matter where or when they were. It was nearly too quiet. James’ nervous habit had returned and his hand was in his hair without him even realising it. Sirius kept time with the clock by tapping his quill against the table. Lily felt like screaming at them all shut up and stop already, to quit distracting her from reading. She’d just taken a small book she’d found under the couch in their room and had read the first chapter twice now, without taking in a single word of it. 

Sirius threw his quill down and Lily, quite by instinct, threw the book at Sirius.

“Ow!” he rubbed his head and glared at her. “What did you do that for?” She’d jumped up and was pacing. James looked up and removed his glasses. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

“We’re stuck!” Lily burst out suddenly.

“Yes, we know,” he replied curtly. “No need to attack me for it though.”

“ _ Mudbloods _ are always slow to grasp the situation fully, Sirius, you mustn’t blame her.” Lily turned on him, her patience clearly at an end.

“Don’t  _ you _ start!” she ground out through gritted teeth. “I’ve had just about enough of your misogynistic, racial, narcissistic slurs. Go and crawl back under that rock of yours and LEAVE ME ALONE!” she was shouting now, and angry tears threatened to burst forth. She blinked rapidly to try keep them at bay. James got up and went to her but she stepped back, shaking her head. If he was going to touch her now, try to comfort her, she was going to lose it whatever shred of dignity she had left. He stopped. 

Phineas was openly disgusted by her outburst but remained sitting at his desk, his pose straight and sophisticated as ever. Silence fell again, only punctuated by Lily’s rapid breathing and the endless ticking of the clock. Once she had her emotions back under control, she sat back down and snatched up the nearest book to her. Sirius, she noticed, was now reading the small one she’d thrown at him.

Before long, they were all engrossed in their task again. So when Sirius suddenly jumped up with what could only be described as a battle cry, they all jumped in their seats. James look up so fast, his glasses slid down his nose. He pushed them back up with his thumb and noticed two familiar ghosts in the middle of the room. 

“Sirius, since when are you scared of ghosts?” he laughed now, very much amused by his friend.

“What? No! I found it!” He ignored the  _ Bloody Baron _ and  _ Sir Nick’s  _ presence completely. “I found how to get back!” Sirius held the book aloft and tapped his forefinger to a page.

Lily and James raced over to them and even Phineas stepped closer although he held back just enough not to physically make contact as he peered of Sirius’ shoulder in an effort to read what he was pointing out. Even the ghosts, who were arguing about the annual Headless Hunt, were now quietly watching with interest, their own squabbles forgotten.

It was the small copy of  _ What To Do When You’re Out Of Time by Lily Ina Portal _ . A small unassuming book with only 169 pages. It was a small account of the author’s experiences with Timeturners, their development, their use in replacing old fashioned stone circle travel, and the magic involved. The author’s note quickly read that the book was published under an alias as to protect the source. Unspeakables were sworn to secrecy, and it was more than the author’s life’s worth to be the whistle-blower. 

Sirius shrugged them off, and walked a few steps away. He turned and held his hand out to keep the others at a distance. “Just hang on. I’ll find the passage again.” He thumbed through the book again.

  
“Here it is, hang on. Bla, bla, bla… here:  _ ‘In order for the Traveller to return to his or her own time, he or she must cast the following spell at the appointed time, in complete sync with their counterpart helper in the time they wish to return to. The spell,  _ Desitus Tempus, _ is cast with a wand movement depicted below. If cast correctly, a postern tunnel, for want of a better word, will be created. The Traveller then must only step forward into the light in order to return to their own time.’” _

Sirius was animated now, his usual blinding smile, that had turned many girls into giggling dimwits, was firmly back in place. For a few seconds, Lily and James grinned back. 

Lily was the first to sober up and respond to the tremendous find. “That’s amazing, Sirius, only… well, we can cast it here, but how do we get someone to cast it at the same time in 1978?”

It seemed that it was one step backwards for every two steps they went forwards. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Phineas drawled behind them. “You children are too self-absorbed to see the woods for the trees!” He puffed his chest out triumphantly. “Are you going to use your tiny brains then, or do I have to spell it out for you?” He shook his head. “And you,” he pointed at Sirius, “You’re a Black! Of course it was you who found the solutions. I expected great things of you, of course. Why don’t you tell us how we get the message to 1978, hm? Surely, your brain is better than that of your  _ friends _ here.”

“Just spit it out, great-great-grandfather. Pass your great brain on.” There was a definite edge in Sirius’ voice.

“Disgusting.” Phineas looked ready to spit fire. “The Ghosts! The Ghosts will be here long after we’re gone. They can take the message to the Headmaster of your time! Merlin’s beard, to think you is what’s left of my legacy at that point. Tell me, boy, do you have siblings?”

Sirius made to answer, but James stepped in between the two and addressed his best friend. “Ignore him. Hate to say it, but he’s right. The Ghosts will be around and I’m sure Sir Nick will help us!”

The Ghost in question entered the conversation. “My dear boy, of course I will help you. When do I need to deliver the message?”

They briefed Sir Nick on what will happen when, had a lengthy argument about getting the Gryffindor Ghost to stop it from happening in the first place by telling Sirius to cancel his plans, but figured that it would be impossible because it would’ve happened by then already anyway. Their heads ached at the paradox of it all. 

In the end, it was Lily who decided on a backup plan: write a note to their future selves and hide it with one of the previous Headmasters in the Headmaster’s office. She argued, and they all agreed, that Dumbledore would definitely be involved at this stage. They hoped neither Peter nor Remus were in too much trouble because of it. 

And so, they went about their work, Phineas to hide the note, and waited for the right moment.


	9. Chapter 9

Peter walked along the seventh floor corridor, carefully levitating a tray with two mugs of hot chocolate in front of him. He had volunteered to go get some as doing this kept his mind busy. In order to keep the tray steady he had to keep his mind focused and so he, for once over the past couple of days, didn’t think about his vanished friends, if they’d ever return and should they do so, if they could survive. 

He had nearly reached the Fat Lady’s portrait when sudden coldness startled him so much, he dropped the tray with a loud clatter. He’d been so focused, he’d walked straight though Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington. 

“My dear young Gryffindor, watch where you are going! Goodness me, but you look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Sir Nick laughed lightly. When Peter didn’t reply, he asked kindly, “Is anything the matter?”

“You mean besides James, Sirius and Lily stuck in the past?” he replied sarcastically, then clamped a hand over his mouth and looked stricken because it had popped out. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone. 

“Stuck in the past you say? Still? I thought they’d be home by now. Strange.” began to float away.

Peter gawped and then shook himself. “WAIT!” Sir Nick turned, his left shoulder stuck in a wall, ready to depart. 

“Yes, dear?”

“You  _ know _ that they are in the past?”

“But of course. I’ve been here well over 450 years. Naturally, I came across them when they visited.” He looked thoughtful for a moment and Peter gathered his thoughts and tried to assemble them into coherent sentences so he could ask the right questions. But Sir Nick already went on, “I had completely forgotten. If you’ll excuse me, I must go see the Headmaster.” 

Peter had just about the presence of mind to vanish the mess on the floor before hurtling himself towards the Portrait and shouting the password on approach. The Fat Lady muttered about the rudeness of it all but swung forward reluctantly. He wasted no time and was shouting Remus’ name before he even emerged in the Common Room. 

Not a minute later the Fat Lady was heard complaining about hooligans and waving a fist at Remus’ and Peter’s retreating backs. Panting and with hands on their knees, they now stood in front of the Gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster’s office. “Cockroach Clusters,” wheezed Remus and the stone statue moved aside to admit them to the staircase.

The door at the top was already open and they stumbled into the office without so much as a by-your-leave. 

“Ah Peter, and Remus. I’ve been expecting you. Sir Nicholas kindly informed me of the latest information. It appears the solution was here in my office all along!” He extended his arms wide in a sweeping motion. He then turned towards the sleeping portraits on the wall behind his desk and proceeded to wake up their inhabitants. Many did so, albeit reluctantly. Peter and Remus held their breaths, crossing fingers and hoping this truly was what they were looking for.

Once the grumbles at having been disturbed died down, he addressed one portrait in particular. The portrait looked on placidly. He went closer so nobody could mistake who he was talking to, and increased his voice by several decibels. 

“My dear Professor Fortescue,” he all but bellowed, “It appears we need your help!”

Professor Dexter Fortescue put his ear trumpet to his right ear and angled his head. “Say that again, Dumbledore?”

“It appears we need your help with a matter concerning students out of their time. I believe Phineas Nigellus,” he paused to look at the portrait in question, noting that the previous Headmaster was inconspicuously smug looking, “has hidden a message in your portrait. Would you be so kind as to allow us to inspect you closer?”

“Out of their time? My word, however did they manage to do that? But of course, do go ahead, Albus. Just be careful, I’m not the youngest, you know!”

Dumbledore took a large magnifying glass and began to inspect the painting inch by inch trying to find the message, or indeed a hint of where to find it. 

“Headmaster?” Remus asked. 

“Yes, Remus?”

But what Remus wanted to ask was anyone’s guess as at the same moment that he went to speak again, the long-suffering sigh and drawling voice of Phineas Nigellus Black made itself known.

“You won’t find it that way, Albus. And after all I now know about Sirius Black, I’m not sure it would be worth it to even bring him back. He and that James Potter are a shame to wizard kind. And that  _ Mudblood _ with them…” 

A barrage of outrage erupted at his last words, from previous Headmasters, as well and Remus and Peter. All shouted over each other, condemning the use of such vile language directed at anyone least of all the current Head Girl.

“SILENCE!” Dumbledore shouted when the uproar didn’t seem to stop. “Phineas, you know as well as I do that their welfare is paramount to our profession and position here. It overrules your own views on this matter. And if I have the correct story, you were already helping them by placing the note in this office in the first place. I implore you, Phineas, see sense and tell us where it is so we can retrieve our students safely.” He peered over his half-moon spectacles at the portrait and put his hands on his hips.

Phineas, Remus thought, must’ve been the worst sort of Headmaster Hogwarts had ever had, if the reaction to Dumbledore was anything to go by. He looked besieged and vexed but relented after a short while. 

“Look behind the portrait. Simply summon the note.” He didn’t wait to see whether Dumbledore had understood him and exited his portrait to one side, leaving it empty.

Dumbledore, for his part, didn’t waste any more time. He lifted his wand and intoned a summoning charm, a thin piece of parchment neatly landing in his free hand. Dumbledore handed it to Remus. “I do believe the honour should go to you both, read it aloud, if you’d please.”

Remus cleared his throat and willed his hands to still. 

“ _ Professor Dumbledore, Remus, Peter, _

_ We believe that you will find this note in time, thanks to Sir Nick (and hopefully that stubborn, arrogant great-great-grandfather of mine). We have reason to believe that you will know we have been thrown back in time by 100 years exactly to March 1978.  _

_   
_ _ In order to return to 1978, two people must cast the same spell at exactly the same time. Lily says Muggles call it a wormhole. A portal of sorts. It will be created for us to step through. The spell is  _ Desitus Tempus  _ and has a complicated wand movement. Please find a copy of  _ What To Do When You’re Out Of Time  _ by  _ Lily Ina Portal  _ and then perform the spell exactly on the hour beginning 9pm on the 19 _ _ th _ _ March.  _

_   
_ _ Since it must be performed simultaneously, we are going to begin at that time, hourly, in hopes that we will match and succeed. _

“It’s signed by Sirius, James, and Lily.” He swallowed. “They must have been doing that spell for nearly 24 hours now. Do you have that book, Headmaster?”

Dumbledore was already over by his large bookcase, his wand out and muttering. A small book flew down from the end of the top shelf.

“Aha!” he exclaimed triumphantly. 

They went to work on finding the correct passage, read through it numerous times and decided that Dumbledore was indeed the man to cast the spell. 

*** 

James looked at his watch. Five minutes to nine. He stood up and began their now routine of casting the  _ Desitus Tempus _ spell, again, and again, for ten whole minutes. They had argued a lot over how they would attempt to sync with the future and decided that, considering slight differences in clocks and timekeeping, a ten minute window of casting the spell repeatedly would give the best chances of success.

Over the past 24 hours, they had taken turns and worked in shifts around the clock, letting each other rest while continuing on. The enthusiasm was great for the first night. By lunchtime the next day, however, doubts began to creep in. It wasn’t the first time James wondered how long, if ever there was an end, they would have to keep this regime up.

Sirius was dozing on the couch at the side of Phineas’ office. Lily sat next to him, a novel she’d found now lay abandoned on her lap as she watched James work in concentration. Seven, eight, nine. She was counting. She always counted. It gave her something to do, something to focus on, besides worrying about it ever working. Ten, eleven,-.

James shouted. Sirius jumped up, wand drawn instantly alert. Phineas, who had been scribbling reports at his desk, also abandoned all pretence and stood. Before them, a shimmering doorway glistened in the candle light. It looked like a sheet of mother of pearl. Slowly, and quietly, the three students approached it.  When they stood right before it, they could hear familiar voices as if cotton wool obscured their ears: ‘ _ It worked!’  _ Peter’s voice. _ ‘Do you think they’ll come through now, Headmaster?’  _ Remus’ voice asked. ‘ _ We shall wait, and hope.’  _

The solemn voice of their beloved Headmaster made them jump into action. James and Sirius laughed and Sirius was the first to walk straight into the portal. He’d vanished in a heartbeat. James looked around to Lily. She stood right next to him and beamed. He took hold of her hand and pulled her towards the shimmering doorway. She pulled him to a stop and turned back briefly.

“Thank you, Professor Black. We truly appreciate your help.” 

She didn’t wait for an answer but squeezed James’ hand firmly and together they stepped into the portal, lumps in their throats and wishing with all their might that they would indeed end up where they wanted to, and safely at that.

It was like stepping into water that completely engulfed them without the inconvenience of becoming wet. How long it took to go through, none of them could say. All feeling of time left them. When the sensation passed, they stood in the middle of the Headmaster’s office and loud cheers erupted all around them. Sirius, Remus, and Peter were busy hugging each other in greeting. Dumbledore advanced on James and Lily, beaming and welcoming them back with an outstretched hand in greeting. James shook his hand first and when it was Lily’s turn, Dumbledore simply gave a wink and a ‘ _ welcome back’ _ as he obviously noted their still entwined fingers.

Lily blushed but didn’t let go. She leaned closer to James and quietly said, “You were amazing, James.” James turned fully towards her and smiled down at her. 

“You weren’t so bad yourself, you know.” He bit his tongue. It wasn’t what he meant to say, but when it came to Lily, his mouth didn’t bother with a filter. He had meant to say something complimentary, not some sleazy flirtation. Lily, however, didn’t appear put off by it this time. Indeed, she pulled her hand from his only to put her arms around him for a hug. 

“I know.” She grinned up at him, happy to be home, in one piece, and not aged beyond her years. James, for his part, grinned down at her, unable to think past the one thing he’d wanted to do for a lot longer than he’d care to admit. He threw caution to the wind and did exactly what he’d promised himself 100 years ago.

He gave in and kissed her.

The end.


End file.
